Celtics fans still have a hard time forgiving Ray Allen. The mercurial shooter was a big part of the Celtics’ resurgence in the late 2000s. When the Celtics executed two massive trades in 2007, Ray Allen joined forces with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
The trio immediately catapulted the Celtics to championship contention status. And by the end of that season, Allen, Garnett, and Pierce spurred the Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008.
The Celtics were once again a powerhouse in basketball, becoming a solid contender. They once again reached the NBA Finals in 2010, but couldn’t defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, despite taking them to a thrilling 7 games.
The Celtics were a solid team, and just needed a few moments of luck to reach the NBA Finals and win an NBA championship. But by 2011, the Celtics’ big three broke. Ray Allen shockingly left the Celtics to go join the Miami Heat, the team that had eliminated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in the last two seasons.
Fans were furious about Allen’s move, seeing it as a huge betrayal. But they weren’t the only ones who were upset by Allen’s decision. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo were extremely upset by Allen leaving them to team up with LeBron James.
Allen’s relationship with all these players fell apart. And other than Paul Pierce, whom he recently reunited with at the 2021 Hall Of Fame ceremony to squash the beef, Allen is still on bad terms with his former Celtics teammates.
So it came as a shock to many fans when they saw through Pierce’s Instagram story that Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were seated next to each other for Pierce’s Hall of Fame induction.
But as the night went on, Allen was nowhere near Garnett, and Pierce showed KG sitting next to former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, who was initially seated away from the duo.
It is clear that the two players are still not ready to mend fences. KG was incensed when the move happened and is still not any closer to letting it go. Time can heal all wounds, but perhaps these wounds may need a little more time.
